Manchester Mayor Gatsas revives newsletter for city employees

MANCHESTER - There's a new publication in town covering city government, straight out of the Office of Mayor Ted Gatsas.

The mayor's office last week published the inaugural edition of the newsletter, which was posted online and was sent out to hundreds of city employees.

The cost of printing the publication was covered by Members First Credit Union.

Gatsas had requested that the aldermen's Committee on Community Improvement create a special account to accept the funds. On Monday, the committee approved the request without discussion.

The goal is to "improve communication between city departments," Gatsas said, adding the newsletter was being produced "at no cost to taxpayers."

The city has apparently not published a newsletter in a number of years, and the mayor's initiative comes at the start of an election year in which Gatsas already faces one opponent, Alderman Patrick Arnold.

"I'm not surprised Mayor Gatsas is trying to rehabilitate his image with city employees," Arnold said in an email. "His 'my way or the highway' approach has alienated a lot of people who sincerely care about the direction of our city, and he certainly has a lot of ground to make up with them."

The newsletter does not have a name yet. Readers are invited to propose their own ideas.

"While my office has batted around a couple of names nothing has jumped off the page. So we decided that it should be you, the city employees, that name this newsletter," Gatsas writes in his "Message from the Mayor" column on the front page.

In addition to the mayor's column, the newsletter features a story about the new municipal complex - "Municipal Complex is Open for Business" - and a question-and-answer interview with the city's new fleet management director, Wes Anderson.

There's also an ad for Members First Credit Union, along with a thank-you message for underwriting the printing cost.

Production of the newsletter is being overseen by Samantha Piatt, the mayor's chief of staff.

It appears a city newsletter was last published several years ago.

In a letter to the Committee on Community Improvement, Gatsas wrote: "In the past the Quality Council produced the City Chatter newsletter. However due to a change in the make-up of the committee the newsletter has not been produced in some time to no fault of the Quality Council or any of the members."

The Quality Council was established in 2000, to be comprised of "representatives from the Aldermanic Board, department heads and the unions representing city employees," according to the city government website.

In his letter to the aldermen, Gatsas states: "Department heads have welcomed the idea and feel that it will be a welcome addition to the culture here at City Hall."

The newsletter is available on the city website, manchesternh.gov, on the pages of the Office of the Mayor and CityView.